A review by dovesfalling
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

3.0

Warning for ranting and relatively minor spoilers of the overall arc. I should also say - despite all of this - I still adore Stephanie Perkins, think she's hugely talented and should continue writing forever. But I see now why she struggled with Isla and Josh's story, and I think that comes through in the finished product.

This was just too.. young for me. Weird in a way, since this is the only one of Perkins' books that the main duo

Spoiler

have sex

but despite that, it still felt... juvenile. With Anna and St. Clair (who I have never liked in subsequent books since it feels less like they're swoon-worthy and more like Perkins thinks they SHOULD be), there was a slow burn and an evolving friendship and romance. Even with Lola and Cricket, they had a history - albeit a ridiculous one - and you could feel the tension between them.

With Isla and Josh, there was no build. Just petite dainty little Bella Swan I mean Isla, so meek and scared and just... blank. And then slacker Josh, who through Anna's eyes seemed like such a tool, and yet. Apparently not.

Five minutes after they get together, suddenly it's a love affair for the ages, and even though they're eighteen, they're still controlled by their parents - Josh, here's a tip, you're fucking LOADED - BUY A CELL PHONE. It was just so overblown and overdone and geez louise, calm the fuck down already both of you.

So.Much.Drama.

PS: One thing I did appreciate was that

Spoiler

Perkins wrote sex into their relationship. In the previous books - especially Anna, there was this weirdness of Anna not being ready to have sex with St. Clair - yeah right - and it being this strangely huge deal. At least Isla surprised me by not being a virgin, and they banged it out fairly quickly. God save me from melodramatic sex in Y.A novels.